Proportion of City workers in financial services on steady decline

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Financial workers are set to be outnumbered by other growing industries (Source: Getty)

Alys Key

The proportion of City workers in media, tech and professional services is set to overtake those in financial services by 2030, City A.M. can reveal.

Employees in the biggest non-financial sectors are expected to account for 38 per cent of people working in the Square Mile, compared to 31 per cent in financial services, according to a report from property services firm Colliers.

Financial services are still currently the biggest employers in the City, despite a decline in recent years from a 1996 peak of 46 per cent to last year's 35 per cent. Professional and technical jobs saw steady growth from 21 per cent to 26 per cent in the same 10 year period.

This means the amount of office space within the Square Mile occupied by non-financial industries will rise. Media and tech occupied 4.2m sq ft by the end of 2016, representing an increase of 43 per cent in the last five years.

Although the relocation of jobs to EU financial hubs after Brexit is likely to contribute to a decline in financial workers in the City, the report shows that increasing demand from emerging sectors will compensate for the shortfall, with improved infrastructure projects like Crossrail opening the City up to a wider range of industries.

Guy Grantham, director of research and forecasting at Colliers, also explained that the trend had its roots prior to the vote to leave the EU. “It has come about due to margin squeezes for major banks in the prolonged low interest rate environment, necessitating reductions in overheads (property commitments, headcount etc.), coupled with the rise of ‘tech and media’ and the footloose nature of that sector’s occupational needs.”